Villages

A historic property in a historic district was before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals at its meeting Friday when it considered an application from the Presbyterian Church for variances to add 11 parking spaces and realign its driveway. The applicant also seeks permission for the continued existence of four air-conditioning units along the rear wall of the church.

Voters from the East Hampton, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts will be eligible to vote Saturday on the 2015 East Hampton Library budget. The polling will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library.

Next year’s spending plan of just over $2.2 million contains an $85,500 increase in expenses over 2014, a total increase in taxes of $104,000. The largest growth, about $76,486, is for salaries, benefits, insurance, and related staff costs. Facilities costs, including building and grounds keeping, rise by about $19,000.

Having seen an onslaught of development and redevelopment in recent months, the Sag Harbor Village Board passed a moratorium at its meeting Tuesday night temporarily halting construction on single-family house lots and wetlands permits for 180 days while existing laws are re-examined. The moratorium, which had been introduced last month, applies only to applications submitted after Aug. 1, and does not affect commercial properties.

For over two hours on Monday, the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and a slew of other residents went over the problems that have dominated conversation here this summer, mentioning the “horror” of taxicabs and the need for code enforcement. They praised the new online complaint form on East Hampton Town’s website, which Betsy Bambrick, the director of the Ordinance Enforcement Department, who attended the meeting, said was unbelievably effective. Members also heard promising reports about new taxi legislation and town efforts to solve some parking problems.

Harborfest 2014, Sag Harbor’s annual celebration of its maritime history, will launch tomorrow at 5 p.m. with “A Whale of a Party” at the Whaling and Historical Museum and continue throughout the weekend with a jam-packed calendar of events for people of all ages.

New this year is the Beach Blast concert. Previously held on Shelter Island, the show, which will feature live performances by Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks, the Hoodoo Loungers, Hopefully Forgiven, and others, will start rocking Havens Beach on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

The East Hampton Library will present its 2015 tentative budget at a hearing tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the Baldwin Family Lecture Room. Registered voters in the East Hampton, Wainscott, and Springs School Districts can cast their ballots on the spending plan on Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Montauk Library’s annual book fair, traditionally held on the downtown green on the Saturday of the Fourth of July weekend, will no longer be held. Instead, smaller, more community-minded events will be held at the library four times a year. Also, starting in the spring, the library will host two to four yard-sale fund-raisers per year.

A benefit will be held Saturday for the Donald T. Sharkey Memorial Community Fund, established in honor of the late East Hampton Town building inspector.

The day will begin with the community fund’s fourth annual motorcycle ride with the Red Knights Chapter 25. Registration will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the Bridgehampton Fire Department, with coffee and bagels provided by Goldberg’s. A ride to Montauk Point will begin at 11 a.m. A donation of $30 per rider has been requested.

Mariners who store their boats at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard pleaded with the Sag Harbor Village Board on Tuesday night to find a way for the storage yard to remain as is.

There were hugs and tears at a Tumbleweed Tuesday celebration sponsored by the Montauk Chamber of Commerce on the downtown green. But the show of emotion was not a happy one celebrating the end of the season and the departure of the tourists — it was pure grief over the death on Monday of Carl Darenberg, a member of the Montauk chamber and all-around chronicler of Montauk life.

There is a new addition to the list of famous faces that frequent East Hampton, and this one is fuzzier than most.

Ryan Scott King and Rosemarie Elizabeth Cicalese of Montauk and Williamsburg were married on June 14 at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk by the Rev. Michael Rieder.

The weather started out foggy that day, then turned beautiful before the wedding, a blessing the bride and groom attributed to his late mother, Debra King, and her late father, Patrick Cicalese. An outdoor cocktail hour and tented reception at the Montauk Lake Club followed the ceremony.

The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals has ruled that Howard D. Schultz, the chief executive officer of the Starbucks chain, has an accessory structure on his property that violates the village code and cannot be maintained in its present condition.

An article in The New York Times on Tuesday reported that J. Darius Bikoff, the multimillionaire owner of Vitamin Water, is among the principals of ED40, a limited liability corporation that purchased the East Deck Motel at Ditch Plain in Montauk in the fall for a reported $15 million. It seeks to develop the property as a private club with a restaurant, spa, 8,000-square-foot pool, underground parking, and other amenities. None of the names of the corporation’s shareholders had been made public.

Chris and Marcia Schenck of East Hampton have announced the engagement of their daughter, Jordan Schenck, to John Foster Jr., the son of John and Cindy Foster of Hampton Bays.

Ms. Schenck is a registered nurse at Meeting House Lane Medical. Her fiancé is a teacher at the Springs School. They live in Hampton Bays and plan to be married on Sept. 12, 2015.

Lauren Santich and Alfonso Maldonado of Montauk were engaged on Aug. 12 aboard the Mon Tiki at sunset.

Mr. Maldonado’s parents are Alfonso Maldonado of Patchogue and Zulma and Dan Boerem of Montauk. Ms. Santich’s parents are Gloria Rousell and Matthew Santich, both of Montauk. The couple first met in 2011. They are planning a 2015 wedding.

In what is perhaps one of the most unusual fund-raising efforts among the many that occur during the summer season here, Peter Honerkamp, an owner of the Stephen Talkhouse club in Amagansett, and his friend Dan Tooker have embarked on a “Hampton Bar Crawl” across East Hampton Town.

They have promised to have one drink in every bar here, and for each one he has, Mr. Honerkamp will donate $10 toward the cost of “Welcome to Soldier Ride,” a documentary about the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride program, which grew from an idea hatched at the Talkhouse.

Columbia Law School announced this week the receipt of a $3.5 million gift from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation to support and expand its Center for Climate Change Law. The center, which will now be known as the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, was established five years ago with the help of funding from the Sabin foundation.

In the heart of East Hampton Village, a plan to build a tennis court angered one neighbor and, when its proposed location was changed in response, drew an objection from another neighbor. The tennis court is to be built on the former Gardiner estate, at 127 Main Street, which is now owned by Shahab Karmely. His property and that of the first neighbor who objected, Kenneth Kuchin of 123 Main Street, are for sale.

Bill Clinton became the first-ever United States president to play golf at Montauk Downs in the state-owned course’s 87-year history on Aug. 20.

Mr. Clinton, who had celebrated his 68th birthday the day before, and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, are renting a house in Amagansett for August. They have spent the past several summers on the South Fork.

Labor Day weekend brings not only the end of the summer rental season but also the Shinnecock Indian Nation’s annual powwow, which will take place on the reservation from tomorrow through Monday.

The event, said to be the 68th in the tradition, features drum and dance contests, authentic native dress, and over $50,000 in prize money. The Shinnecocks will welcome members of many other tribes as well as the general public, and native arts, crafts, and foods will be for sale. There will also be raffles and a sunset fire-lighting.

Sunday will mark the first of what is to be an annual Heart of Springs summer fund-raiser at Ashawagh Hall, supporting not only the hall and its grounds, but also the Springs Library, which houses the hamlet’s historical society, and the Springs Presbyterian Church.

The Heart of Springs group formed this past winter to raise money and awareness for the hamlet and its historic district. The members are all Springs residents who are active and involved in the community. The party is the organization’s first event.

An honor guard of motorcycles and police cruisers escorted a truck carrying a twisted 1,000-pound, 14-foot-long steel beam from the World Trade Center to the American Legion Hall in Amagansett on Aug. 13, in the culmination of a long effort to erect a 9/11 memorial there. For Tony Ganga, commander of the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 419, and for others involved in the planning, the artifact’s arrival was a cause for celebration.

Saturday brings the first annual Springs Agricultural Fair to the green outside Ashawagh Hall during the weekly farmers market.

When Olivia Walsh visited the Montauk Historical Society’s arts and crafts fair at the Second House Museum in July, she wondered why there were no crafts available for children. So the 7-year-old took matters into her own hands. She asked her mom, Lauren Walsh, to find out if she could set up a stand and teach others how to make bird feeders, a craft she learned from a book. The answer was yes.

Though Nancy Bennett-Donohue, who celebrated her 103rd birthday on July 29, now lives in Micco, Fla., her roots are Bonac through and through.

Suppose Dylan Lauren of Dylan’s Candy Bar and Steven Spielberg of “Jaws” were in a local news story. What would it be about? The proceedings of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals. At its meeting Friday, the board agreed that Dylan’s Candy Bar can sell hand-scooped ice cream and that accessory structures on the film director’s property here could remain where they are. 

Historic preservation in the heart of East Hampton Village will be enhanced with the purchase of the Gardiner home lot, Robert Hefner, the director of historic services for the village, said at East Hampton Town Hall last week.

Mr. Hefner, along with village officials and civic group representatives, spoke in favor of a purchase of 3.7 acres of the original lot, for $9.6 million from the town’s community preservation fund.

Following the hearing, the purchase was approved with a unanimous vote of the town board.

East End Climate Action Network, an organization aiming to address and educate the public about climate change and resiliency, and Renewable Energy Long Island, a not-for-profit organization based in East Hampton that promotes sustainable energy use and generation, will co-host the Renewable Energy and Sustainability Fair on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the grounds of the Amagansett Historical Association.

Concerned Citizens of Montauk has asked the East Hampton Town Planning Board to call for a full environmental impact statement before making any decisions about a proposed large-scale project at the East Deck Motel site at Ditch Plain, claiming that the application raises serious questions about environmental and community impacts.